Wine icon’s son in court
AN ADELAIDE woman who claims the son of winemaker Wolf Blass beat her in a jealous rage has denied sending incriminating text messages blackmailing the Gold Coast man.
She said texts read to Southport Magistrates Court may be falsified and blamed “spoof messages”.
Anton Blass, 34, has been accused of two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm.
It’s alleged the Surfers Paradise resident repeatedly punched his then-partner, 25, in the face and threw her into a bedframe after he found a text which aroused suspicions that she was cheating on him.
Blass has pleaded not guilty.
The case largely turns on the evidence of the ex-partner, who was called to the witness box by prosecutor Brent Dixon.
Blass and the woman had been dating in South Australia before he moved north.
The woman told the court she had “nothing to hide” when Blass discovered the message.
But she told the court Blass “lost it” and “jumped on top of me and punched me repeatedly in the face”.
When asked how many times she had been punched, she said there were “enough (punches) to give me two black eyes and bruising”.
The woman also told the court she and Blass wrestled over the phone later in the day when he “threw me and I hit the end of the bed”.
“There was blood gushing from my face,” she said.
After recounting the alleged assaults on September 8 at the Focus Apartments, Surfers Paradise, the woman was then cross-examination by defence barrister Angelo Vasta QC.
She admitted she had previously been addicted to the drug ice and that she had a criminal history including providing false or misleading information to police.
Clearly unhappy, the woman said: “I don’t actually understand what this has to do with the case.”
Mr Vasta told the court his questions showed a “cavalier” attitude when it came to rules and was relevant to her “credibility”.
Mr Vasta also suggested messages sent to Blass showed the woman had been “blackmailing” him by withholding bank account and computer passwords.
The court was also told the woman had a tracking app installed on Blass’ technology.
Despite agreeing a phone number read out had been hers, the woman denied blackmailing Blass, tracking him or sending the text messages.
The case was adjourned to May 29.